Ad of the Day: Got Milk?

The California Milk Processor Board (CMBP) is picking on plant-based alternatives to milk in Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' latest work under its classic tagline for the dairy association.

The deliberately cheesy ads, an extension of the recent "Real milk comes from cows" campaign, are done in the style of a mock 1960s variety game show. The theme: funny-sounding ingredients found in what the campaign calls "imitation milk." In the case of the TV spots, that means soy-based. A microsite also knocks coconut- and almond-based alternatives. The contestants are a sharp teenage girl who can rattle off the drink's contents without really knowing what they are and a clueless teenage boy who is totally lost beyond water. The host, who sports an aesthetic reminiscent of Mad Men's Harry Crane, is a total ham. The additive carrageenan? "Used to date her in college," he grins. "I'm joking, I'm teasing." The campaign's headline: "Real. Simple."

The ads are fun. They're also kind of smug, with a knack of sophistry and fear mongering. The implication that having more ingredients is necessarily worse doesn't quite hold up on its face—riboflavin, zinc gluconate and calcium carbonate, for example, are popular dietary supplements. The aforementioned carrageenan, meanwhile, may be murkier. It's a common seaweed-based gelatin alternate that's raised various health concerns over the years, including that it's a possible carcinogen (what isn't?) but is generally considered safe. Overall, the campaign feels a bit like PETA-baiting. Vegan stuff is easy to ridicule, and, as the brand well knows, sowing controversy generally makes for more—if not necessarily better—exposure.